The following was written by sister lactation consultant, Norma Ritter. Thank you, Norma, for your thoughtful and humorous contribution to this forum!

There are few things less attractive than a person eating. People who do so in public should be charged with indecent exposure. At the very least, they should apologize to all the other folk in the vicinity. If they can’t cover their naked …mouths then they should stay at home!

I don’t see why people can’t either eat before leaving the house, or just take an IV with them. It is a simple matter to carry the necessary equipment and liquid nutrients in a small cooler. For goodness sakes, companies give away the coolers for free! And did you know that the growing trend is to wear a permanent hep-lock in your arm?

Who wants to see people put food in their facial orifice in public? Come on, we all know what mouths are for, and THAT is most appropriately done in private!

If people insist on eating in public, the least they can do is to use a head cover. There are so many attractive covers now available that you can even match one to your outfit as a fashion statement. It is easy to make your own from a yard of knit fabric, and you don’t even need to hem it.

As for this law I keep hearing about, prohibiting the harassment of those who feed in public, well, that is just ridiculous! We need to return the the good old days when public decency was more common.

Norma Ritter, IBCLC, RLC
Breastfeeding Matters in the Capital Region
www.NormaRitter.com